Sunny Side Up - JJ Maybank

9

I knew that raising a child alone wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world; but I didn't realise just how much it would affect me. She was the light of my life and I wanted to give her the best life, which often meant sacrificing myself for her. I didn't remember the last time I'd slept or eaten properly, and I barely spent any time with my friends anymore.

I'd finally gotten Flora off to sleep after a tiring day of her crying to be fed constantly and decided that I needed to see JJ to cheer me up; so I called him over for a movie night.

"Flora's asleep at the moment but I can't promise it'll last, so don't get too invested in the movie!" I joked, but deep-down I sometimes felt bad for my friends that we didn't get to spend time together like we used to, uninterrupted.

"That's fine with me, any time I get to spend with you is important," he said light-heartedly, but his words really touched me.

We put on a film we'd seen before but I felt my eyes drifting shut occasionally and I had to force myself awake so JJ didn't think I was being rude.

"You look tired Sunny, have you been sleeping?" he asked, after he caught me dozing off during my favourite part.

"It's just hard to get a good night's sleep when I'm the only one to look after Flora, it's a miracle she's stayed asleep for this long!" I sighed.

"Have a nap, I'll watch TV and I can tend to her if she wakes up," he shrugged, like it was no big deal for him to watch my daughter while I slept.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, JJ."

"You didn't ask; I'm offering, now sleep!"

I woke up in a panic; worrying that I'd slept for long and something bad had happened to Flora, but all my fears were washed away when I saw JJ cradling my daughter in his arms, a big grin on his face as he cooed to her. I watched them for a moment and it brought a huge grin to my face as she giggled and reached up for JJ's face.

"Having fun?"

"It's Mommy!" JJ exclaimed excitedly, and Flora reached out for me as I took her from JJ's arms.

"I can't thank you enough J; that was the best sleep I've had in a long time."

"I'd be happy to watch Flora again sometimes if you ever need to catch up on sleep. I'm serious Sunny; I don't want you to burn yourself out. Raising a kid alone is hard work."

"Thank you, JJ. I don't know what I'd do without you."

JJ stayed true to his word and basically raised Flora with me. He slept over often, on the couch, and would push her around in her pram to get her back off to sleep in the night if I was too exhausted. At first I was worried that it would be too much for him, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy it. He loved Flora like his own and I think he liked being out of his house; he didn't have the best relationship with his dad and this gave him a place to stay, as well as a chance to prove himself as a better 'dad' than his was to him.

I honestly didn't know what I'd do without JJ; he helped me as much as he did Flora.

"Have you been watering my plants?" I asked one day, noticing that the houseplants I'd been given when I moved in always looked so lively even though I didn't remember the last time I watered them.

"Uhm, maybe?" he said, rubbing his neck and trying to hide the red tint of his ears – he looked like a kid that had just been accused of stealing someone's sweets.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, but clearly he interpreted my tone wrong.

"I'm sorry! I just - you've got a lot going on with Flora and I know how much you love your plants so I just wanted to help," he explained sheepishly.

"I'm not mad at you dumbass, I'm grateful!"

"Oh."